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In theory, compromise and moderation can be a good thing, and has occasionally solved real world problems. It can work when both sides are willing to give a little to get a little. In today's political climate, it seems that moderation has run its course and all the compromises have been made. The right is done with compromise, their world view is intractable. Compromise now is like the flea jumping half way to the dog, the dog ain't moving.
On the left we have things that we won't and shouldn't compromise: the protection of our environment, an economy that feeds and shelters everyone, equal rights for everyone, worker safety and protection from unsafe foods, products and chemicals to name a few.
It comes down to world view, and to put it bluntly, the left is correct and the right is wrong. I wish global warming wasn't real and that my son and his children didn't have to pay for the "progress" of the 20th century. There's no ignore button for reality, we have to deal with it. What I have noticed to my dismay is that we wait for disasters to make reality manifest before making necessary changes. It will take temperatures of 140 degrees to convince the last holdouts of the climate change deniers. I have to qualify my statement about disasters leading to change, as we've seen with the Gulf fiasco, denial takes place even during a disaster. The left shapes its world view around reality, the right shapes reality around its world view.
It is the world view of the right that concerns me most, the notion that 1890's style capitalism is the best way to move forward. The people that this benefits, and working to keep it going can fit in one room. The rest of us are subject to the adverse effects, the ones voting for and against this crap included. I wish I had a solution to offer, all I have is this snapshot of how I see it. I used to believe that a compromise could be forged, and that a capitalist system could work if corporations and the wealthy were held accountable. It could work in theory, and has for limited times, but the nature of capitalism is to enrich the already wealthy and to overcome any obstacle in the way of doing so. People willing to let the general population breathe toxic chemicals are not going to let stand restraints like taxes or reasonable regulations.
The moderates in the Democratic Party need to stand up for something other than being "electable". If they would join the left in educating the public about the dangers of the right instead of placating them, having 59 Democratic Senators would mean something. Meeting the right halfway is less and less acceptable when halfway is pulled further and further to the right with every compromise. It is going to take more time than one election cycle to remedy this, if it can be done. If the moderates are okay with the status quo as has been suggested here, we're boned.
I want to thank the people here on DU and the DU staff for allowing me this space to speak, listen and learn about the things I care about. I'm sorry this post was one of doom and gloom, but I have to call it like I see it.
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